Spring practice is underway for nearly all 128 college football teams, and the countdown to the 2014 season has officially started. There’s still a long way to go before August and the start of next year, but it’s never too early to start thinking about which players are ready for a big jump in production.

After a successful three-year stint as Vanderbilt’s head coach, James Franklin is returning home. Franklin was announced as Penn State’s new head coach on Saturday, replacing Bill O’Brien who departed Happy Valley for the NFL.

Prior to taking over at Vanderbilt, Franklin worked as an offensive coordinator at Maryland and Kansas State and worked for one year as an assistant with the Packers. Franklin also spent time at James Madison, Washington State and Idaho State.

When we sit down to iron out our Top 25 Poll each year at Athlon Sports, we are trying to project the final year-end standings not build a preseason power poll. It might be a small and subtle difference but an important one to acknowledge.

Breakout players or the emergence of new stars is an annual tradition for all 128 college football teams. However, with the focus shifting to the bowl season, it’s never too early to think about players that could use the postseason as a springboard to an even bigger 2017 campaign.

Contrary to all the tweets, all the talking heads on television and all of the columns written, there was no drama in this year’s College Football Playoff selection process. There were zero surprises either.